Character Overview
Guide by Nyoronoru
Dudley is an in-your-face rushdown character with a large library of mixups. He also has quite a few powerful jumping attacks and great damage options. Dudley can appoach the opponent well from mid-short range with great walk speed and an excellent Focus Attack. Dudley also has a plethora of frame traps and damage scaling resets that can punish those trying to escape his offense. He is also one of very few characters who can combo after an overhead attack.
Dudley has problems approaching characters from mid-range and farther though. All of his normals (especially his cancelable ones) have either short range or slow startup. He also has weak reversal options, relying heavily on meter or taking damage to perform escapes. Another big problem is that Dudley has no fast low game, meaning that most of Dudley's big damage has to be started from high attacks beyond the range of his Dart Shot.
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Strengths •
+ Really high damage on average, good at making comebacks.
+ 50/50 mixup game on opponent's wakeup.
+ High-priority jumping attacks.
+ Versatile Ultra Combos.
+ Focus Attack has great range.
+ Above average stamina.
+ Fast walk speed.
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Weaknesses •
- Can get out-poked by characters at mid range.
- Without EX, he has no viable reversal.
- Short backdash.
- No crossup attack.
- No long range cancelable low poke.
- Has big trouble with defensive characters due to his short range offense.
- Has a large hurtbox which makes certain combos easier on him.
Special Moves
Damage
Light
120
Medium
140
Hard
160
EX
180
Properties
Dudley's uppercut move. The Hard Jet Upper comes out the fastest, but all of the regular versions have zero invincibility making it more likely that it will either lose or trade to jump-in attacks. The upside is that this uppercut recovers on the ground very fast, allowing you to perform certain juggles. Hard and EX Jet Upper start up slightly slower than Ryu's Shoryuken but faster than Sagat's Tiger Uppercut.
If you land Light Jet Upper on a jumping opponent you can immediately perform a Ducking Upper to juggle the opponent. This sequence is pretty easy and damaging for a meterless combo. You can also land Corkscrew Cross or Rocket Upper cleanly after a Light Jet Upper juggle.
Each version of Jet Upper recovers extremely quickly on the ground, forcing the opponent to begin their punishing combo very early. Hard Jet Upper hits twice where you can only FADC the first hit. These two facts are important to remember for both offense and defense.
EX Version: The EX version has some startup invincibility and it hits twice. A good choice for an anti-air attack. This is also Dudley's best reversal option as it starts up just as fast as the Hard version. You can also FADC this Upper just like all the others.
Damage
Light
90
Medium
120
Hard
130
EX
120
Properties
Dudley rushes forward with a bunch of punches where the button pressed determines the distance he travels. The Light version is the only one that is safe on block, although it's not safe to have Machine Gun Blow blocked against grapplers.
The Light version starts up the fastest, Hard the slowest. The Light version is also good for aerial juggles whereas the Hard and EX versions are the most damaging grounded combo enders. If you are playing a safe ground game, it's best to cancel into the Light version for approaches.
EX Version: EX Machine Gun Blow launches the opponent at the end of the animation, allowing you to follow up with either a Sweep Launcher, a Ducking Upper, or another move depending on your screen location.
It is very important to combo into this move with Dudley in order to attain maximum damage, especially in the corner. Despite the speed that this move travels at, it actually takes a while for Dudley to get into a state where he is striking the opponent.
Damage
Regular
N+60
EX
N+150
Properties
Dudley poses with his arms down and if he is hit he takes some damage, but responds with a counter attack. The Light version of the Cross Counter stays active the longest, Hard the shortest, Medium in between. Don't forget that you still take damage from the attack even if this lands, meaning that you can be KOed if you don't have enough health left over!
This is a potential wakeup option to defend against crossup attacks, since the startup of the Counter is really fast (faster than Jet Upper) but if an opponent baits this attack out of you they can punish you with a huge combo since the recovery is so horrendous. Cross Counter doesn't work on armor breaking moves, but it does work on non-armor breaking reversals. As an example, a reversal EX Messiah Kick from Rufus usually breaks a Focus Attack's armor, but Dudley's Cross Counter will still work.
EX Version: The EX Cross Counter works exactly the same as the regular one except that it adds 50 damage to the counter damage, and then the followup two hits do 50 damage each. You can land your Ultra 2 after the EX Cross Counter is complete anywhere on the screen, although it is much easier to do in the corner.
Damage
Light
120
Medium
140
Hard
160
EX
150
Properties
Dudley swings back and during this time he is invincible to throws. Afterwards, he does a followup strike that is mostly safe on block depending on how far away Dudley is when this is blocked. This move is specifically designed to punish tech throw attempts, but since Dudley has better frame traps with his Kidney Blow this move doesn't have too many uses.
The Light version starts up the fastest and is the safest on block, but travels the least distance forward and does the least amount of damage. Due to the speed of this version it will probably be the only version you need to use.
You can try to use this attack to trick the opponent during blockstrings, but due to the slow speed and lack of reach it's more than likely you will get poked or smacked out of it, or the opponent will just simply block. It's also bait for Focus Attacks since the regular versions only hit once, so don't just throw it out there. Try to cancel from a normal move to give the opponent less time to react but enough time to think you are trying to throw them.
EX Version: This travels at the same speed as the Hard version and hits three times. If you FADC out of this and juggle into Ultra 2 you will initiate the full animation of the Ultra, but such a juggle only works in the corner. This amount of time between the strikes is too slow to interrupt Focus Attacks.
Damage
Straight
100
Upper
120
Properties
Dudley ducks downward, and during this time he is invulnerable to projectiles. If you press a Punch button, Dudley will stop his dash and attempt a Step Straight. Pressing a Kick button will have Dudley perform an uppercut. Ducking Upper and Ducking Straight work well in juggles but most players stick with Ducking Upper for the damage and comboability. Both enders to the Duck are unsafe on block, though a well spaced Straight is hard to punish.
The Light version starts up the fastest but travels the least amount of distance. If you press no buttons at all Dudley will recover normally from his Duck and you can attempt a throw or a different attack. You can be thrown or struck out of the move at any time, so throwing it out carelessly or trying to use it as a substitute for Dudley's regular dash is a bad idea due to the travel time.
A Standing Hard Kick will allow you to combo into a Medium Ducking Upper, which gives you a chance to land your Super with a good damage bonus. It also lets you set up some FADC combos with the Ducking Upper. If you catch someone with a juggle move such as an EX Machine Gun Blow or a Sweep Launcher then following up with a Medium or Light Ducking Upper is the best damage extender If you are attempting to punish a projectile, then the Straight is the better choice.
EX Version: EX Duck starts up and travels a lot faster than the regular Ducks. It also allows you to cancel the Duck into a Straight or Upper much faster than the non-EX versions. Because of this, you can add a lot more damage in combos, though it usually requires an FADC coupled with the EX Duck.
Damage
Damage
Light
100
Medium
120
Hard
140
EX
170
Properties
Dudley flies up off-screen and comes down on the opponent with a tornado punch. There aren't too many uses for this move because both the regular and EX versions are very unsafe on block. All versions of the move can cross the opponent up, but it all depends on how you space each version of the move. The Light version travels the least distance forward, Hard the most.
EX Version: The EX version travels the farthest while auto-tracking the opponent and it travels way faster with some startup invincibility. Since it travels the fastest as well you can use this to chip an opponent for a KO since it does the most chip damage out of all the Thunderbolts.
Super and Ultra Moves
Properties: None
Dudley does two rising uppercuts then finishes with a fancy tornado Jet Upper. It is incredibly easy to combo into this Super as it combos from many things, including Jet Upper, Ducking Upper, Back Swing Blow and almost all of Dudley's Target Combos.
If you aren't the kind of person that uses EX Stock much with Dudley then this Super is definitely worth using because of the high damage. However, EX Machine Gun Blow and EX Jet Upper are very integral to Dudley's offense and defense, so it will be unlikely that you will have this Super locked and loaded.
Properties
Dudley ducks down and dashes toward the opponent, and if he catches them he beats them up hard. This Ultra is used almost exclusively for its ability to travel through projectiles. The speed of the Ultra is deceivingly fast and can punish projectiles from a distance of up to half the screen.
There is no way to combo into this Ultra other than a Focus Attack or a heavy jumping normal attack.
Properties
Dudley throws his fist out with loads of active frames and if it makes contact the opponent gets placed in a rinse cycle against the wall. This is Dudley's comboable Ultra, and it's extremely easy to land. Some players are sticking with Corkscrew Cross even against fireball characters because of how easy it is to land this Ultra. Here are the sets of moves that can end in Corkscrew Cross.
- EX Machine Gun Blow (corner)
- EX Machine Gun Blow, Duck Straight (corner)
- EX Machine Gun Blow, Duck Upper (corner)
- EX Machine Gun Blow, Sweep Launcher (corner)
- EX Machine Gun Blow, Light Machine Gun Blow (corner)
- Sweep Launcher (corner)
- Sweep Launcer, Sweep Launcher (corner)
- Sweep Launcher, Duck Straight (works best in corner)
- Sweep Launcher, Light Machine Gun Blow (low damage)
- Light Jet Upper
- Jet Upper FADC
- EX Cross Counter
- EX Short Swing Blow FADC (corner)
If you catch someone in an aerial juggle with this Ultra you won't get the full cinematic but you'll still get a respectable amount of damage. The more hits and juggles you do leading up the Ultra impacts how many hits of Corkscrew Cross will land.
Target Combos
A fast special cancelable Target Combo. You can link into another standing jab after this is over, though it is very difficult to do.
Another special cancelable Target Combo, but this one starts from a low attack. No real use for this.
If your overhead is blocked, you can do this Target Combo to make it safe on block, though it's hard to react to such a situation. If your overhead lands, it's better to link into a crouching Light Punch than to finish this Target Combo.
Dudley's standing Light Punch can whiff on a lot of crouching opponents. However, this Target Combo is special cancelable and it is safe on block.
A good target combo since you can begin it from a Kidney Blow. It is not special cancelable, but it is super cancelable. It's also safe on block to the point where you can tech a throw attempt.
While attempting to tech throws while crouching, you can press the rest of this series to either attack your opponent or to give yourself more space in your ground game.
This target combo is not super or special cancelable, so it doesn't have much use.
Not too many uses for this target combo due to the short range of its starting attack. It's super cancelable though.
The last attack of this Target Combo can be cancelled into your Super. This Target Combo gives you a really big window of opportunity to land Rocket Upper compared to the others but since it does overall less damage due to scaling there's not much use for it.
Notable Normal Moves and Unique Attacks
Nothing too special about this other than it leads to Target Combo 1.
This move is completely safe on block and lets you do a one-frame link into a standing or crouching Light Punch if it lands.
A really nasty poke from Dudley. This doesn't whiff on crouching characters and the hitbox on it is really good. It can stuff quite a few moves and it does a huge amount of damage for a command normal.
It's important that you space this correctly when applying it in your poking game. If you do it too close to the opponent and it's blocked, you can be thrown.
Dudley's best standing normal as it gives him enormous amounts of frame advantage on block or hit. It also moves him forward, helping him close the gap. You can link this punch into several cancelable normals that lead to some really damaging setups. See the Combos section for some examples.
Dudley's overhead attack. You can link into cancelable normals with this move, making it one of the very rare overhead attacks that you can combo out of. If you hit someone in the air with this it will knock them down, keeping opponents from jumping out of this attack.
You must incorporate this move into your gameplay as a Dudley player in order to get players to fear your offense. Try to apply it just outside of a character's throw range to apply the threat of the high-low mixup.
Similar to Dee Jay's crouching Medium Kick, Dudley can knock the opponent down so they cannot quick stand with this move. The range is good, but the startup is a bit slow.
A long-range move from Dudley that must be blocked low. If it lands you can juggle the opponent with certain moves, most notably your Ultra 2. The knockback of this move on block is so big that opponents might have trouble punishing you, but it's still not a good idea to use this at anywhere but far range.
Use this move in combination with your Dart Shot to create deadly high-low mixups. Against characters with poor reversal options using Dart Shot and Sweep Launcher on their wakeup is ideal.
If you land this move in the corner against certain opponents, you can juggle them up to two more times with Sweep Launcher. Small characters cannot be juggled for three hits, so it's often best to stop at only one juggle.
Anti-Air: Standing Medium Kick
Dudley's main anti-air normal which is best at countering attacks directly above him.
Standing Hard Punch
Dudley's standing Hard Punch shares some properties from Step Straight, but it has less range and is a bit more unsafe on block. Still a great move to use because of its damage and hitbox. It also starts up a lot faster than the Step Straight.
These are two of Dudley's best jumpins. Elbow Slam is particularly effective for covering air space. Elbow Drop is good for countering other characters' normal anti-airs.
This is Dudley's signature taunt where he throws a rose that tracks the opponent. It does no damage but it does a tiny amount of blockstun or hitstun if it lands. Regrettably it comes out way too slowly to be used safely after knockdowns like in Third Strike, meaning that you will more than likely have to throw it at gutter trash from the other side of the screen.